mister rogers

We’re trucking right along this summer…and it’s all about well-received, high performing documentaries! From RBG to LIVES WELL LIVED to POPE FRANCIS, we’ve seen a lot of success with well-crafted docs. And there’s no end in sight. WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? celebrated a SOLD OUT preview screening on Thursday, June 28, and numerous screenings are scheduled for the weekend. This film is a much-needed dose of kindness – a fantastic piece about Fred Rogers and his ground-breaking television show. Next week, we’ll start a strong documentary about Whitney Houston by filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (director of TOUCHING THE VOID and LAST KING OF SCOTLAND). (And we’ll hopefully get to the crowd-pleasing THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS later in the summer.) That said, there’s still room for traditional narratives, and we’re going to sneak in the new, star-studded adaptation of the beloved Chekhov classic for one week only starting today – THE SEAGULL.

Synopsis for WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR: “For over thirty years, Fred Rogers, an unassuming minister, puppeteer, writer and producer was beamed daily into homes across America. In his beloved television program, MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, Fred and his cast of puppets and friends spoke directly to young children about some of life’s weightiest issues, in a simple, direct fashion. There hadn’t been anything like Mr. Rogers on television before and there hasn’t been since. Though he may be best known today as a soft-spoken, cardigan-wearing children’s television host, in reality, Fred Rogers’ career represents a sustained attempt to present a coherent, beneficent view about how we should best speak to children about important matters and how television could be used as a positive force in our society.” (Focus Features) Click this LINK to visit the film’s official site.

Synopsis for THE SEAGULL: ONE WEEK ONLY! “One summer at a lakeside Russian estate, friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside. While everyone is caught up in passionately loving someone who loves somebody else, a tragicomedy unfolds about art, fame, human folly, and the eternal desire to live a purposeful life. The estate is owned by Sorin (Brian Dennehy), a retired government employee, and his sister Irina (Annette Bening), a legendary actress of the Moscow stage. Irina is imperious, narcissistic and selfish, and anxious about holding on to her star status and the affections of her younger lover, Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll), a successful writer of short stories. Irina constantly belittles her aspiring writer son Konstantin (Billy Howle), perhaps because his existence as a grown man reminds her that age is catching up with her. While he adores his mother despite her cruelty, Konstantin acts out his insecurity and anger by rejecting both her style of theatre and Boris’s writing, declaring them old-fashioned and banal. A dreamer, Konstantin declares he will create bold and superior new forms of theatre and literature. Adapted by Tony-winning playwright Stephen Karam (“The Humans”) from Anton Chekhov’s classic play and directed by Tony-winner Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”), THE SEAGULL explores, with comedy and melancholy, the obsessive nature of love, the tangled relationships between parents and children, and the transcendent value and psychic toll of art.” (Sony Classics) Click on this LINK to visit the film’s official website.

Tickets for our special 50th Anniversary Screening of YELLOW SUBMARINE (just $8 each) are available at our box office. The film has been gorgeously restored and will screen one time on Sunday, July 8 at 3:00.

Don’t forget that on Sunday, July 1 at 5:15, we will have a special guest who will speak to the audience after the screening of WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? Jim Wiener, who currently works at ThinkTV, worked at WQED in Pittsburgh from 1986 until 1997, and knew Fred Rogers as well as his producer (Margie Whitmer) and director (Paul Lally). He will talk about his experiences in public television and personal recollections about Rogers and his iconic television show. Tickets are now available for all of this weekend’s screenings at our box office during traditional operating hours.

Because of the 4th of July holiday, we will have a couple days next week when we offer earlier shows than usual. Please pay close attention to the schedule below for all of our current attractions…showtimes are different depending on the day.

Next Thursday, we’ll have a special preview screening of WHITNEY. We hope you’ll make plans to see it then! Check out the trailer below!

There are so many films to get to, so we need to keep moving. If you still need to see THE RIDER, Thursday will be your last day to catch it at THE NEON. FIRST REFORMED will stick around for a couple shows a day for one more week, and POPE FRANCIS: A MAN OF HIS WORD will have three more screenings over the weekend before it disappears. On Friday we’ll open two new films – a new take on the heist film AMERICAN ANIMALS and the chilling UK import BEAST.

Synopsis for BEAST: “Moll is 27 and still living at home, stifled by the small island community around her and too beholden to her family to break away. When she meets Pascal, a free-spirited stranger, a whole new world opens up to her and she begins to feel alive for the first time, falling madly in love. Finally breaking free from her family, Moll moves in with Pascal to start a new life. But when he is arrested as the key suspect in a series of brutal murders, she is left isolated and afraid. Choosing to stand with him against the suspicions of the community, Moll finds herself forced to make choices that will impact her life forever.” (Roadside Attractions) Click on this LINK to visit the film’s official site.

Synopsis for AMERICAN ANIMALS: “AMERICAN ANIMALS is the unbelievable but entirely true story of four young men who attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history. The film centers around two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky. Spencer (Barry Keoghan), is determined to become an artist but feels he lacks the essential ingredient that unites all great artists – suffering. His closest friend, Warren (Evan Peters), has also been raised to believe that his life will be special, and that he will be unique in some way. But as they leave the suburbs for universities in the same town, the realities of adult life begin to dawn on them and with that, the realization that their lives may in fact never be important or special in any way. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they plan the brazen theft of some of the world’s most valuable books from the special collections room of Spencer’s college Library. Enlisting two more friends, accounting major Eric (Jared Abrahamson) and fitness fanatic Chas (Blake Jenner), and taking their cues from heist movies, the gang meticulously plots the theft and subsequent fence of the stolen artworks. Although some of the group begin to have second thoughts, they discover that the plan has seemingly taken on a life of its own. Unfolding from multiple perspectives, and innovatively incorporating the real-life figures at the heart of the story, writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter) takes the heist movie into bold new territory.” (The Orchard) Click this LINK to visit the film’s official site.

Tickets for our special 50th Anniversary Screening of YELLOW SUBMARINE (just $8 each) are available at our box office. The film has been gorgeously restored and will screen one time on Sunday, July 8 at 3:00.

Next Thursday at 7:30, we will have a special preview screening of WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? – the new documentary about Fred Rogers and his television show MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD. The preview will have prizes and give you the first opportunity to see this special film. The movie will then officially open on Friday, June 29 with multiple screenings a day. On Sunday, July 1 at 5:15, we will have a special guest who will speak to the audience after the screening. Jim Wiener, who currently works at ThinkTV, worked at WQED in Pittsburgh from 1986 until 1997, and knew Fred Rogers as well as his producer (Margie Whitmer) and director (Paul Lally). He will talk about his experiences in public television and personal recollections about Rogers and his iconic television show. Tickets are now available for these special screenings at our box office during traditional operating hours.

We’ve added two great new films to our upcoming list. On July 6, we will open the new documentary WHITNEY – a strong documentary about the life of Whitney Houston by Kevin Macdonald (director of TOUCHING THE VOID and THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND). And though we don’t have a firm opening date yet, we will soon get to HEARTS BEAT LOUD – a really special and heartwarming comedy. Stay tuned for the latest!

Thank you for your continued support!
We hope to see you soon,
Jonathan